Our Allied Health Team
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Teigan leonard
eci manager
Teigan’s passion is to help people be the best they can be. As a Psychologist, she knows how much potential there is in every child and family and is passionate about providing the support this potential to be unlocked. She loves seeing the excitement as children and families achieve things they didn’t think were possible, no matter how big or small.
Teigan graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours (Psychology) and a Masters of Educational Developmental Psychology. She is an accredited supervisor with the Psychology Board of Australia.
Prior to becoming a Psychologist, Teigan was a senior ABA Therapist. She has completed a range of additional training across multiple Allied Health areas, including Floortime, the Traffic Jam in my Brain program, Picture Exchange Communication System, the Learn to Play program and Sleep-Ability.
She has developed and delivered a range of workshops for parents, educators and other professionals. She is an accredited ‘Stepping Stones Positive Parenting Program’ (Triple P) facilitator.
With a strong knowledge of the sector, Teigan was invited to present at the Federal Parliamentary Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme in 2017.
sarah brunson
ECI Team Leader / Speech Pathologist
Sarah enjoys working with a child’s whole family, and celebrating a child’s progress. Her aim is to ensure everyone in a child’s life is confident in communicating with them, and enjoys seeing what a difference their support and encouragement can have on the child’s progress.
Sarah holds a Masters of Speech and Language Therapy, as well as a Post Graduate Qualification in Paediatric Dysphagia Management. She has worked across the lifespan; from babies to the elderly.
Sarah is particularly passionate about working with children with severe language and social communication delays. Sarah has additional training in Lidcombe, SCERTS, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, PECS, Key Word Sign and the Nuffield Program.
In her sessions, Sarah is always conscious of what the end goal for a child is, making sure that whatever she is doing is productive and functional for the child. She loves that each child and session is different – even if it’s an activity that she’s done before.
Occupational Therapists
angela ross
Transdisciplinary Leader (Western Region) / Occupational Therapist
Angela has a passion for making a difference in children’s lives in their early years. She has a playful nature and enjoys the challenge of teaching children new skills using a play based approach. Angela is a strong advocate for supporting families and putting them at the centre of the decision making process. She particularly enjoys working with families in the home environment and using a strengths-based approach.
Angela graduated from Curtin University in Western Australia, with a Bachelor of Science (Occupational Therapy). Angela has worked across all age groups, from babies through to aged care, but has a special interest in Paediatrics.
Angela always begins a therapy session by giving families time to talk about how their child has been progressing. This gives them a chance to voice any new concerns, and allows her to assess how strategies have been going. When completing therapy activities with a child, she demonstrates a strategy first, and then gives carers a turn of trying it out. This way they are actively involved in the session and feel more confident in trying out strategies at home.
kimberley barker
Transdisciplinary Leader (Eastern Region) / Occupational Therapist
Kim is passionate about helping children and families work towards functional and meaningful goals. She especially love working in children’s natural settings. Kim uses children’s interests throughout her sessions and love getting parents and carers involved.
Kim graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (with Honours). She has worked with a range of age groups – from babies through to adulthood. Kim enjoys working with children in particular, because she gets to use play as a tool to help them develop. Kim has trained in the SOS approach and holds a certificate of proficiency in DIR/Floortime.
When planning for sessions, Kim considers a child’s interests and their existing resources. She makes sure to find opportunities to model what she is doing with caregivers so that they can replicate strategies at home.
stephanie goodwin
Transdisciplinary Leader (southern Region) / Occupational Therapist
Stephanie enjoys collaborating with families to problem solve a child’s goals using a play based approach. She loves working with children, in part due to their honesty, humour and energy.
Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences and a Masters of Occupational Therapy. She has worked with people from aged 2 – 24, and has a passion for paediatric Occupational Therapy. Stephanie’s special interests include play, fine and gross motor, sensory, and personal independence. She has trained in the Early Start Denver model (ESDM), Key Word Sign, and PRPP (Perceive, Recall, Plan, Perform).
Stephanie’s sessions are fun and focused. She always considers the participation and motivation levels of the client ensuring that her activities are appropriate for and match wherever the child is on that particular day.
SPEECH PATHOLOGISTS
Jessica Dubbeld
Speech Pathologist,
pakenham & glen waverley
Jessica is passionate about helping provide support and strategies to families who may be finding life a bit difficult with children with additional needs. She wants to support and encourage families in a way that unites them as a loving family and supports them to support their child.
Jessica graduated from Australian Catholic University with a Bachelor of Speech Pathology. She has worked with children from 12 months through to early adulthood. Jessica has special interests in early childhood intervention, speech, language and social skills. Jessica has additional training in the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS).
Jessica always considers how she can make sessions fun for the children she is working with. She wants them to feel encouraged and empowered as they leave each and every session.
Rebecca Macpherson
SPEECH PATHOLOGIST,
PAKENHAM & GLEN WAVERLEY
Rebecca loves that she gets to make a difference in children’s lives, and empower parents to help their children achieve their goals. She sees children as honest and creative. They are always making her laugh and teaching her new things!
Rebecca graduated from LaTrobe University, with a Bachelor of Health Sciences and a Masters of Speech Pathology. She has spent her career working with children and adolescents. Rebecca has a special interest in speech sound disorders and late talkers. She has undertaken further training in PECS, PODD, Lidcombe, Hanen, and Key Word Sign.
In her sessions, Rebecca always considers what mood the child might be in and have ideas in place for whether they are active or tired. She also tries to have one of her favourite games or activities in the session, to guarantee that both her and the child have as much fun as possible.
Andrea Leifer
speech pathologist,
glen waverley
Andrea Leifer, or Andy as she is known by, loves the idea that children have their whole lives ahead of them with so much potential to learn and develop. She enjoys incorporating families into a child’s therapy, as their progress is so strongly impacted by their family and home environment.
Andy holds a Bachelor of Speech Pathology. She has spent her career working with children and adolescents, including working across a range of special and specialist schools. Andy is an accredited presenter of Basic Key Word Sign workshops. She has also completed additional training in PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) – Levels 1 and 2, PODD (Pragmatic Organised Dynamic Display), and the “Traffic Jam in My Brain” program.
Andy’s sessions always consider a child’s interests and their overall wellbeing on the day. She also strongly considers a family’s current capacity to take on and implement new strategies throughout therapy. She knows there is little point introducing something if it can’t be replicated outside of her sessions.
taylor kraft
Speech Pathologist,
glen waverley
Taylor enjoys working families and supporting them to achieve new goals. She loves watching the new ideas children come up with, and seeing the progress they can make. It’s so great laughing along with children in sessions as they have fun and learn!
Taylor graduated with a Masters of Speech Pathology from LaTrobe University. She has completed further training in cued articulation and the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). Taylor has spent her career working with children. She has a particular interest in early language and speech.
When planning her sessions, Taylor considers a child’s age, interests and how to make the activities as engaging as possible. She is passionate about being able to provide families with tips and strategies that can help them in their daily routines.
Briana Petrocco
SPEECH PATHOLOGIST,
GLEN WAVERLEY
Briana enjoys being able to be a part of a child’s early development. Family is crucial to the child’s progress so she loves being able to spend the time to develop a great relationship with all the families she work with. She knows that being welcomed into a family is so special.
Briana graduated with a Bachelor of Speech Pathology from Australian Catholic University. She has completed further training in the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). Briana has worked with people across the lifespan. She has a special interest in paediatrics, especially in working with children with disabilities and their families.
When planning her sessions, Briana makes sure that she focuses on making the session enjoyable so that the child funds it easier to engage and develop (and wants to come back!) She always considers if what she is doing could be replicated by the child’s carer at home, making sure that everything she does is functional for the child.
Pariya Nganthavee
speech pathologist,
glen waverley
Pariya says that it is such a privilege to be a small part of a child’s world. She loves their honesty, creativity and curiosity – their boundless energy keeps her active. Pariya is passionate about empowering families and getting them to a place where they are confident and can stand strong in the long term.
Pariya holds a Master of Speech Pathology. She has additional training in the Hanen programs “It Takes Two To Talk” and “More Than Words”. Pariya has spent her career working with children and young people. She has also worked as a special education aide and teacher. Pariya has a special interest in Autism Spectrum Disorder, Dysphagia and Mealtimes.
At the start of every session, Pariya spends some time finding out what is new with the child and family and exploring where everyone is at right now. She likes to involve parents and carers in activities. Pariya will always consider how each child is doing on a particular day to guide whether she takes it slow and steady or makes the session fun and crazy!
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
Teagan Kircher
Occupational Therapist, PAKENHAM & GLEN WAVERLEY
Teagan loves collaborating with families to ensure the therapy plan suits their everyday lives and capabilities. One of her favourite parts of her job is seeing children’s surprised faces once they realise they’re able to complete an activity they initially said was too hard!
Teagan holds a Bachelor of Applied Science and a Masters of Occupational Therapy, both from LaTrobe University. She has worked with people of all ages, from 18 months to 75 years old. Teagan has a special interest in children’s social skills, and fine and gross motor skills. She completed a research project on designing and developing outdoor play spaces for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Intellectual Disabilities.
In Teagan’s sessions, she consider the child’s interests and tries to tailor the activities to them to increase engagement. She also loves involving herself in all the activities including riding bikes and using the gross motor obstacle courses.
Lauren Whiting
Occupational Therapist,
Bayswater and Glen Waverley
Lauren enjoys being able to make a difference in children’s lives as they are still developing. Each child is so unique, with their own set of strengths and challenges. She also loves how diverse families can be. It’s so great getting to work together as a ‘team’ with families.
Lauren graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy. She has spent her career working in the early childhood space, with a special interest in fine motor skills and sensory processing. Lauren has also worked as an NDIS planner in the early childhood space and provides our team lots of great insights from this perspective!
Lauren tends to use a combination of play-based, sensory and parent-coaching approaches in her sessions. She always considers individual children’s interests and personalities. She is keen to make therapy as engaging and fun as possible.
Shelley Blignaut
Occupational Therapist,
glen waverley
Shelley knows that children are fun to work with, and are usually motivated to learn and increase their skills through play. She enjoys being able to help families support their children to become the best version of themselves in a fun way.
Shelley holds a Bachelor of Health Science (Occupational Therapy). She has completed additional training in the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), Aboriginal perspectives in early childhood education, managing mealtimes, and in the programs Handwriting Without Tears, Hartley Knows (Victorian cursive handwriting), and Traffic Jam in My Brain. She has worked with people across the lifespan, and has a special interest in handwriting difficulties, and working with preschools on school readiness and sensory issues.
Shelley incorporates play based therapy in her sessions, usually utilising a combination of sensory, movement and table-top activities. Every session has a focus on continuing to strengthen the relationships with the children, parents and educators she is working with. Shelley’s therapy approach always considers what the goals are, how she can make it fun to learn and how the family can practice these skills at home.
Alice Cocis
Occupational Therapist,
glen waverley
Alice enjoys empowering children to improve in their skills and access the playground and classroom with their peers. She is also passionate about empowering parents to understand their child’s needs and giving them the tools to support them.
Alice holds a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy from Monash University. She has completed additional training in the CO-OP, Learn to Play, Social Thinking, Zones of Regulation and Lego Therapy approaches. Alice has worked across a variety of settings including schools, community settings, and private practice across her career, generally with a focus on children and young people.
In Alice’s sessions, she always considers a child’s goals, stage of development and interests. Her aim is for children to play and have fun without even realising they are working on their therapy goals.
PSYCHOLOGISTS
Rosalyn Wong
PSYCHOLOGIST,
Footscray and Glen Waverley
Rosalyn finds that children are a lot of fun to work with and they are able to offer a different perspective of the world. She enjoys working with families and getting them involved in sessions. They spend so much of their time with their child – they really are the best people to work with to help develop their child’s skills.
Rosalyn holds a Bachelor of Psychologist Science (Honours) from the University of Queensland and a Masters of Educational Psychology from The University of Melbourne. Rosalyn has worked with people across the lifespan. She has special interests in early childhood intervention, play therapy and Autism Spectrum Disorders.
In her sessions, Rosalyn always considers whether the activities suit the interests and abilities of the individual child. She ensures that the sessions are enjoyable and that sufficient time is set aside for parent input
Brydie Brooks
PSYCHOLOGIST,
BAYSWATER and Glen Waverley
Brydie knows that no two days are the same when working with children, especially after having worked as a kindergarten teacher before becoming a Psychologist. She loves that she can learn just as much from children as they do from her. Brydie gets a lot of excitement and motivation from seeing children’s “aha” moments in therapy. She is also passionate about helping families become their own best advocates.
Brydie holds a Masters of Teacher (Early Childhood) from the University of Melbourne, a Bachelor of Science and a Postgraduate Diploma of Psychology from Swinburne University and a Masters of Educational and Developmental Psychology from Monash University. During her final year of studies, Brydie worked as bestchance’s first ever Therapy Assistant. She has psent most of her career working with children, but has also done some work in the late adolescent and adult age groups in a hospital setting.
In all of her sessions, Brydie focuses on fun and play. Even though children are working incredibly hard with her, she tries to make sure that the sessions don’t feel like work!
Irina Moroshko
PSYCHOLOGIST,
Glen Waverley
Irina believes that children are our best teachers (and are real fun too)! She loves working with children and families to enhance the parent-child interaction. She enjoys watching parents feeling empowered by gaining knowledge, tools, and a sense of direction, clarity and meaning in their parenting journey.
Irina holds a Bachelor of Science (Behavioural Sciences), an Honours degree in Psychology and a Masters of Psychology (Clinical). She is a registered clinical Psychologist, having completed the Clinical Registrar Program. Irina as worked with people across the lifespan. She has special interests in parenting, the parent-child relationship, attachment, trauma and Autism Spectrum Disorders.
When starting work with a child, Irina always ask the family what the most urgent concern is at the moment that if addressed, would make a positive shift in the family’s life? A compassion and strength based approach can be seen in all of Irina’s work, regardless of what specific treatment approach is taken with a child and family.
Jay Jayawardene
PSYCHOLOGIST,
PAKENHAM and Glen Waverley
Jay loves seeing and hearing children’s perspectives. It’s so powerful seeing how the simplest of things can bring them such delight. Jay enjoys assessments to try and figure out how things fit together, to help everyone better understand a child and their development.
Jay graduated from Monash University with a Masters of Educational and Developmental Psychology. She’s worked with children and adults across the lifespan. She has a special interest in assessment, including cognitive and specific learning disability assessments, and Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis.
When planning her sessions, Jay always considers how to get a child’s “buy-in” to what they are working on. She knows there is no point doing something if she can’t get the child engaged and interested. Jay enjoys seeing and supporting positive interactions between parents and children.
Hannah Schena
PSYCHOLOGIST,
Glen Waverley
Bio to come.
THERAPY ASSISTANTS
Georgia Martin
therapy assistant,
various locations
Georgia enjoys working with children because of their spontaneity and honesty. She knows that it can be extremely rewarding to know you’ve had an impact on their life. Georgia also loves working with the entire family unit. It allows her to observe the family dynamic, including what works well for them and what they struggle with, to help her best support them.
Georgia holds a Bachelor of Science from Melbourne University and is currently studying a Graduate Diploma in Psychology. In addition to her work as a Therapy Assistant, she has worked with children aged 3 – 17 years as a gymnastics coach and a tutor.
In her sessions, Georgia always considers how engaging the activities are that she plans to run, and also the attention span and interests of the child. She likes to make sure to run sessions which are fun for the child and they feel comfortable in.
jocelyn leung
therapy assistant,
various locations
Jocelyn loves being able to provide support to families and their child. Her favourite part of the job is getting to know each family and child. She knows that building a relationship with them and seeing growth in the child is amazing to be a part of.
Jocelyn is currently studying a Bachelor of Speech Pathology at Australian Catholic University. She’s worked across the lifespan, from young children through to aged care. She takes a special interest in paediatric speech and language interventions.
In her sessions, Jocelyn always considers the mood and motivation of the child on that day. She takes in account what has happened in their recent Therapy sessions, as well as any parent goals and feedback.
Malavika Kattali
therapy assistant,
various locations
Bio to come.
Sarah Elliott
physiotherapist,
glen waverley
Sarah finds working with children incredibly fun – she says it is because she is a big kid at heart too. She is passionate about working with families to empower and encourage them.
Sarah holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Physiotherapy) from LaTrobe University. She also has a Certificate IV in Personal Training and Fitness from FIA and a Certificate IV in Elite Athlete Wellbeing from the Wellbeing Science Institute of Australia. Sarah has worked with people right across the lifespan. She has worked with newborns in neonatal intensive care right through to a lady whom she had the privilege of helping to walk on her 100th birthday.
Sarah is a former Australian cricketer who brings a lot of energy and passion to her sessions. She always considers both the child’s and family’s goals. It is important to Sarah that her sessions are both fun and relevant.
Marylou Frazer
Healthcare Administration Assistant
Bio to come.
